Thread 15 - TalkLair: “I Can't Lie To You About Your Chances, But... You Have My Sympathies.”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 14).

Autumn seems to have gone straight into winter. It's cold, wet and windy. In the TalkLair, the hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them). The denizens of the lair are a welcoming bunch though, always eager for general chit-chat on all manner of topics.

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · Yesterday 14:31

Has the focaccia been made yet

Apparently so, but no photographic evidence.

NoBinturongsHereMate · Yesterday 23:45

It's not a keeping variety. They'll last 3 weeks as fresh apples if we're lucky, often less, so all have to be preserved.

Ah, that's a shame. My mate has a very productive tree and the apples benefit from sitting in the cool and dark for a few weeks. In May, I found half a paper carrier bag full, in the garage; all wrinkled, but sound and very tasty.

Funky squashes, Brit! My favourite was the slightly phallic yellow and green one.

The thought of driving in heavy rain and floody roads has brought back a drive we did from Oxfordshire to Somerset during one of those soaking winters we had about twelve years ago. We were in our tiny ancient Ford Fiesta and as soon as we set off, there were flooded fields on either side of the road. The rain got heavier and heavier and in places the roads were like rivers and we started to wonder quite seriously if we'd reach Mr Veg's family's place or have to abandon the car and wade. After what felt like days we got there, absolutely frazzled, to be faced with Mr Veg's brother (who'd travelled from a non-floody area) repeatedly saying 'But where have you been? We've been here hours!'. It was hard to contain myself, I wanted to slap him silly.

Is that code for 'It's all been eaten?'

I’ve never made focaccia but that dough makes me want to try!

Lovely leaf colours and I’m very taken with the little mushroom pictures; there’s an enchanted forest look about them.

I love focaccia and now I want one!

Also I'm now going down a memory rabbit-hole of epic rain conditions what I have experienced...

One that sticks in mind was one summer's evening over a decade ago, we were on the way home from a day out. We were trundling along the A6, when quite suddenly huge storm clouds swept in and it was like somebody had switched off the sun. Then it was like the same somebody had opened the floodgates, it was so torrential that we literally couldn't see anything. We (and loads of other cars) just had to pull over onto the soft shoulder and wait it out for about half an hour - DDs were only little then, I remember them crying at how sudden and heavy the downpour was.

Another time, also summer, we'd gone for a lovely day out at Warwick Castle, bright warm sunshine all day until mid-afternoon. Then very similarly, the clouds gathered and it went very dark. We hurried to the exit with the idea of heading for the car, but only made it as far as the ticket/shop courtyard before a howling wind started up and the heavens opened. There was so much rain that all the drains in the courtyard started backing up and overflowing. As the courtyard began to flood and the rain continued bucketing down, all the people got squeezed tighter and tighter into the few remaining unflooded areas that were also under eaves/overhangs. Meanwhile, very close lightning/thunder crashed across the sky above us. Some grown adults around us started to cry! DH was worried about getting our car out of the carpark, as it was in a field quite a way downhill from the castle - so he decided to set off to bring the car up to collect us. He later reported that the entire road down to the carpark had turned into a raging river that came nearly up to his knees, he basically waded downstream struggling to keep his footing. But his bold move turned out to be a good call, because the car park had become a muddy bog and it was likely that all but the first few cars would not have been able to drive out of it. He had to take off his shirt, sit on plastic bags and drive barefoot going home.

Vegemiteandhoneyontoast · Today 11:34

Is that code for 'It's all been eaten?'

Ah, I hadn't thought of that!

Kucinghitam · Today 16:22

Also I'm now going down a memory rabbit-hole of epic rain conditions what I have experienced...
One that sticks in mind was

At least you weren't on a motorbike, like I was in the "summer" of 1996. I was going from Aberdeen to see my sister in Leicester and by the time I arrived, the only dry skin was at the back of my knees.

I pulled into a services for the last fill up, at the last of 3 pumps and as I got off, both cars in front left. I didn't (was barely capable of) roll the bike to the front and the car behind started beeping. I pulled one glove off, drained the water and wrung it out, then the other.

The two women in the car looked horrified.

After I'd paid, I was standing in the doorway, under a heater, feeling awful. One of the women came up and handed me a cup of tea and some kind words!

Done that wringing gloves out many a time! But not these days; I am too old for that shit now.

Likewise!

The rain stories make me glad to be sitting indoors, warm and dry.

It's raining now, I've been on deck, should have finished 4 hours ago. No end in sight, but I'm actually not tired.

Oh, I'm doing a permaculture course thingy at the adult ed college here in Brum, and we grafted apples (and pears and quince) in February, this looks really interesting.......

I came on here to have a bit of a yay/boo actually.

It's complicated but a member of our family is a very vunerable adult and we've been trying to get access to thier council rent account in order for us to manage it for them. It's been a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, including turning up on their doorstep unannounced because I don't think they can read texts and they deff don't answer the phone. Anyway all sorted today (fingers crossed) it's been such a ballache and it's devoured far too much of my time even though they aren't related to my side of the family. (We're all ND, on both sides, to a greater or lesser degree, so the interactions and co-ordination has been painful to say the least)

Yay for the sorty stuff, boo for the time lost

Oh well done @GrowAndGreen ! Dealing with family adds so many layers of complications, and especially trying to balance when you need to step in and when you have to step back.

@SinnerBoy what is it you do on deck? Are you a surveyor?

@GrowAndGreen it must be such a relief to have it sorted. I hope you’re able to do something nice and relaxing this evening.

is @MouseMinge ok? I feel like I haven’t seen her username for a while but it’s also quite possible I missed it as my PMDD rendered me useless last week.

Fortunately DrK has been taking good care of me.

The star of the show makes a special late-night appearance!

He's so gorgeous! I've been TV posting and most of it is very low rent indeed.

I'm doing quite well. I've not been using my feeding tube for a week at the suggestion of one of my dieticians, if I'm still maintaining or hopefully gaining weight by next Monday the tube is coming out! I'm v excited. I was a bit ill last week, nothing to worry about but I had little appetite for a few days. I was weighed today before immunotherapy and at 48.1kg I've lost no weight as a result of last week! Actually I might have been 48.5 and so I've lost 0.4kg but that's nothing and my weight is on the low side but healthy. I've been having some excellent food and yesterday I drank a small glass of prosecco.

Oh and last week I did modelling for a friend's charity do. There were ten of us wearing clothes from her shop for a charity that helps women who are victims of domestic abuse. She's involved with another charity that does similar in India. She's a bit bloody wonderful so it's nice to do something that helps. Also, I'm a show off and modelling in lush Indian cotton clothing was an absolute delight.

I'm so sorry about the pmdd. We were talking about it earlier because there's a "contestant" on a reality show that has it and it's just horrible. I used to have really bad pms and worse than that sounds like a nightmare so huge love and sympathy from me.

The show is MAFS and I should know better. I do know better but I love the humour on the thread. It's only my second season so I reckon I could quit at any time. Not before the end of this season though!

Love to everyone. x

Grrr. Mumsnet notifications can be random. I had one tonight so I posted but I haven't had one for days and just thought everyone was quietly off elsewhere. Nope! I'll catch up with you all properly tomorrow when I'll read back. If there's anything I've missed I'll get back to it/you. x

Well done @GrowAndGreen for getting things sorted! It's a time-consuming emotional roller-coaster dealing with family stuff.

Also very glad to hear from @MouseMinge as it sounds like you are doing brilliantly and your friend's charity thing sounds marvellous!

Sending virtual hugs to @VictorianBigot and I'm always delighted to see photos of Kasper 😍 what a handsome fellow he is 😍

@MouseMinge excellent news re feeding tube, weight, excellent food and prosecco! I was weighed at the hospital recently, for the first time in a long time, and according to the scale I was 57 kg which I was quite pleased with. Two weeks later I was weighed again on a different scale and I was 61 kg! Not sure which was correct (maybe both??) but my clothes are starting to get a bit looser again now that my cycle is coming back, which is a relief as I'd outgrown my favourite pair of jeans.

The Indian clothing modelling sounds so much fun!

I had to search for the MAFS thread because I didn't know what it stood for I think I'll try an episode. A few years ago I enjoyed a series called Love on the Spectrum.

That sounds like good fun, I hope the grafts take well. I did a grafting course at the permaculture place in Brighton and enjoyed it very much. Grafting seems a bit like magic.

I grew up in Brum and have lived in a few areas of the Midlands.

VictorianBigot · Yesterday 23:00

^ what is it you do on deck? Are you a surveyor?^

No, I'm a geologist, I had to help to launch and recover geophysical sensors and monitor incoming data. Finally got to bed at 01:00 and was up again at 05:15.

Modelling for that cause sounds interesting and fun, as well as being worthwhile, Mouse Good news about the feeding tube too, I hope!